I love Gnudi and this is a really gorgeous way of doing them. Creamy dumplings, soft sweet puree, savoury sage and the light crunch of the Ameretti.

It seems strange pairing Ameretti with a savoury dish, but it is actually quite traditional and from Northern Italy. I developed this dish when I was writing my Total Yoghurt Book. I thought I would try to lighten the dumplings up with some yoghurt and thankfully it worked! I like them better than the original recipe now.

Method

In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, yoghurt and Parmesan together, then add the flour and nutmeg, stir well to combine. Pour the semolina into an even layer on a baking tray. Take 1 tablespoon of the gnudi mixture and roll it carefully into a ball, place on the tray, roll to coat in the semolina and transfer to the lined tray. Repeat with all of the mixture to make approximately 12 gnudi. Spoon the excess semolina over the balls. Leave in the fridge overnight for the gnudi to soak up the semolina.

Peel and de-seed both butternut squash, chop one roughly and place on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, then pop in the oven, cover with foil and roast for 40 minutes until softened. Take the other one and dice into 1.5cm and also roast in the oven uncovered for 30 minutes.

When the first squash is ready, take it out of the oven and puree with a little butter, salt and pepper. Then pop in a saucepan.

When you are ready to eat, put a large pan of water on to boil, pop the gnudi into the water and simmer for about 5 minutes or until they start rising to the top. Then spoon out and lay on a lined tray.

Gently heat up a frying pan with a splash of oil, also heat up the butternut squash puree and the roast squash in separate vessels.

When the oil is hot, add the gnudi into the frying pan and cook until puffed up and golden on each side. Season, then add the butter and torn sage leaves.

To plate up, spoon on the puree, then the gnudi and then sprinkle over the roast squash cubes. Finally, drizzle over a little sage butter and then some crushed ameretti biscuits.